I be honest, still a bit unsure on the ruling of this. When referring to the physical tribe, are we using this only for the speed/attributes or also their traits? Does an Antean unicorn get Horn Magic/Steady focus (and by extension qualify for most of the unicorn Feats)?

And on a tangent to that for the Antean : (earth-bound use these modifications as theirracial modifiers).

Does that mean the earth bound Antean attribute is +4. +2 - 2 -2 overall or am I still applying it to their attribute modifiers? Because I don't fully understand the balance, wouldn't a Zebra Antean have +6 total attributes and an earth-bound only +2 total(If you are replacing not applying in their case).

This might really just be my lack of comprehension but my friend wasn't much surer on the ruling.

Is the default Antean on page 100 simply the template of what its skills would be if you picked it to be earthbound?

That might seem obvious from the "(earth-bound use these modifications as their racial modifiers).", but I don't understand why that note is part of the attributes section, it makes it seem like it is referring to the attributes specifically. It is also not listed for any other race (like Chaos Hunter) who I assume, their template is also the default earthbound. I think I get what it is trying to do now, but the way it is presented actually makes it more confusing.

If it is using the earthbound as a base template, why doesn't it say 30 speed, yes the speed is based on the race you pick, but so is Earth-bound. I think simply giving us the base template of modifications would have worked, OR giving us giving us what an Earth-bound Antean traits are supposed to be would have worked. But now its this weird mixture of being half of each, some of the traits refer us to a physical tribe but traits like Earth-bound do not imply clearly they would be removed.

Low light vision, does that change based on the race I am picking(leatherwing) or not? If yes, why isn't it under the earthbound parts of the stats. If it does not, why?

Generally, if the stat line is 4 2 -2 -2, I think the Attribute section should simply say that, the text referring to physical tribe explicitly does not affect that part of its stats and makes it sound like you are supposed to apply them to the attribute traits of each physical tribe.

And if it is supposed to be applied, I don't know why the eartbound template is there, because obviously the attributes are general, not earthbound based.(Which would have been 4StG, 4Con, -4 Dex. when applied to an Earthbound)

I know it might come over as me making a big deal out of something minor, but I swear this twice as confusing as it should be due to the text given at the attribute section

BreadProduct wrote:What does "As Per Physical Tribe" mean in the tribes books?

Y'know, I was looking through the new and improved books I picked up (gotta' explain the system to a friend), and I got confused, much of it being over what it seems you're confused over.

Strangely enough, the first edition books had a much better way of explaining things, despite there being a lot of cross-referencing.

You essentially started with an Earth-bound. These ponies got access to the Earth-Bound and Unique Destiny traits.

You could then trade away the Earth-Bound trait to become any of the other "Main" or "Physical" tribes: Unicorn, Pegasus, Zebra, Ghost Pony, Sea Horse, or Short Leg. These, plus Earth-Bound ponies, were your "races," and you had to pick one.

From there, if you so chose, you could also trade away your Unique Destiny trait to pick up Chaos Hunter, Clockwork, Doppelganger, Gem Pony, or Tribe of Bones. These were your "subraces" of pony, and they were all optional.

*(Leatherwings read like a "Physical" tribe, though it didn't specifically mention giving up the Earth-Bound trait. Anteans mentioned sacrificing the Earth-Bound trait as though it were a "Physical" tribe, though the stat block referenced the "parent race" as though it were among the subraces of pony. I assume both of these were errata'd.)

Now, I don't know if the revised core book lays all this out like it used to, but the stat blocks in the revised Tribes of Everglow do less cross-referencing, but in confusing ways. The "Main" and "Physical" tribes are specifically distinct from each other, and their stat blocks read as though complete - so trading away Earth-Bound is already done for you - but every single "Spiritual" tribe lists the Earth-Bound trait while referencing the parent tribes' stat modifiers. It reads like every member of a "Spiritual" tribe is an Earth-Bound that gets to pick and choose which stat modifiers it wants to use.

As an example, as far as it reads to me, Doppelgangers can pick the Unicorn stat modifiers, but they'll never have a horn or the accompanying abilities.

Now which version is right?

When dragons in our hearts do fly, is it not right that we should also?

David wrote:To be a doppelganger you trade away unique destiny.You could then trade away earth-bound and poof, you are a unicorn.Ta da, unicorn doppelganger.

So it's meant to still work that way. The problem is that stat blocks in the revised Tribes of Everglow don't reflect that very well. The "Main" and "Physical" other than Earth-Bound lack the Earth-Bound trait as intended, but the book don't say that giving up that trait is what allows for the switch away from being Earth-Bound. The "Spiritual" tribes lack Unique Destiny, but again, there is no mention that giving that up is what allows for picking up a "Spiritual" race's abilities. Nor does anything indicate that keeping the Earth-Bound trait comes with the appropriate stats, or that you can trade it away to become one of the other "Main" or "Physical" tribes.

Maybe the revised core book lays it out like the rules used to read, but revised Tribes of Everglow does not.

When dragons in our hearts do fly, is it not right that we should also?